WhyBike Motorcycle Blog

I got an email yesterday from a woman wanting to learn to ride a motorcycle:

I would really love to learn how to ride. I live in Kauai, a little island in Hawaii. My name is Amy and I am 25. My contact info: 808.###.####

Now since she didn’t technically ask a question I can read this a couple of ways. Either she wants me to call her up and teach her, which is ridiculous since you can’t learn to ride while talking on the phone. She must want me to fly to Hawaii and teach her. Hmmmm, let me think, what would it take to get me to Hawaii to teach a 25 year old Hawaiian woman to ride? Not much, except maybe a good excuse for my wife; she wouldn’t appreciate my generousity and selfless promotion of motorcycling around the world as much as Amy. The only other alternative for me to share my experience with you is here on my site.

My first step for you would to be to enroll in a Motorcycle Safety Course. It looks like they don’t have a location on your island so unless it is easy to get to these classes, which my wife and I highly recommend, you may have no choice to learn from a non-professional. I couldn’t find any motorcycling clubs in Kauai, which would be the second best option. Most clubs would love to help induct people into the motorcycling fellowship. My third choice would be to go down to the dealership and ask them. It is in their best interest to get another motorcycle rider on the island, just don’t let them talk you into buying a brand new Harley for your first bike. Most bikers are nice people and would love to share their knowledge with you, don’t be afraid to go up to bikers and start a dialogue.

I can’t tell you how to learn to ride a motorcycle over the internet, so this is where an experienced rider can watch you and help you work on the areas that need improvement. Keep reading about it and practice, practice, practice. Then once you are ready to get your own bike take a look at “Starter Motorcycles“.

I agree totally with your suggestion and comment about the motorcycle safety course. I have been riding for 22 years and have taken both the Beginner and Advanced Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses. I highly recommend that anyone who rides should take at least one of these courses, whether you think you are a great rider or not. Everyone can learn something that may just save their life someday. It is definitely worth the time.